Cora Jackman Donalson House

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Cora Jackman Donalson House. Now, some houses just sit on a lot. Others carry a whole lineage inside their walls.

This one carries both. Cora Frances Jackman was born in 1853, the daughter of Sidney Drake and Martha Slavin Jackman. Her father was no ordinary man.

Sidney Drake Jackman served as a Confederate general during the Civil War, and when that war was done, he didn't exactly slow down. He went on to serve as a state representative and a U.S. Marshal, and in 1865 he brought his family to settle right here in Hays County.

So young Cora grew up in the shadow of a man who seemed to collect titles the way some folks collect cattle. In time, Cora married Chauncey B. Donalson, owner of the 738-acre Live Oak Springs Ranch.

Seven hundred and thirty-eight acres. That's not a backyard garden. That's a legacy all its own.

But Chauncey passed, and Cora found herself alone on that land with decisions to make. Now here's where the story takes a turn that tells you everything about who Cora Donalson was. She didn't shrink.

In 1913, she commissioned Wallace Bros. Lumber Company of Kyle to build her a house. Not just any house, mind you.

She chose a plan from the Radford Architectural Company's plan book and what went up was a two-story residence dressed in Queen Anne and classical revival detail. Cross gables reaching skyward. Ionic columns standing at attention.

Bay windows letting the light pour in. And at the entry, a transom with side lights, framing the doorway like the house itself was making a statement. Since the 1930s, not a single significant change has been made to that house.

It has stood as Cora left it, a daughter of a general, a widow with good taste, and a woman who knew exactly what she wanted built.

What the marker says

Cora Frances Jackman (b. 1853) was the daughter of Sidney Drake and Martha (Slavin) Jackman. Her father, a Confederate general during the Civil War and later a state representative and U.S. Marshal, settled his family in Hays County in 1865. Cora married Chauncey B. Donalson, owner of the 738-acre Live Oak Springs Ranch. After the death of her husband, Cora had Wallace Bros. Lumber Company of Kyle build this house in 1913 from a Radford Architectural Company plan book. The two-story residence features Queen Anne and classical revival detailing in its cross gables, ionic columns, bay windows and entry with transom and side lights. No significant changes have been made to the house since the 1930s.